


It’s My Birthday

by Vexisss



Category: Dragon Age
Genre: Other, angsty bullshit, lol Val is so drunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 00:22:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13178367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vexisss/pseuds/Vexisss
Summary: Valeria is at the Hanged Man for her birthday, just like the year before that, and the year before that, and the.... You get it. Finally, the star patron (and future owner, lol) decides to get to the bottom of why exactly Val comes to get shitfaced and cry on the same day every year.





	It’s My Birthday

The Hanged Man was always Valeria’s favorite place to go, whether it be to vent or just because. Its greasy atmosphere, weird food and familiar people made her feel at home, and the alcohol… Oh, the alcohol. Val could remember every drink off the menu, in the order they appeared; Brandy-spiked-cider… The Special...The Blooming Rose Special… All of them. The redhead let her head fall to the table. Normally, being here would be great. Valeria would be happy, people would be cheering and egging on the daredevils at the bar to drink things they shouldn’t, and Val would be talking and joking with regulars and attractive visitors. Today, not so much.   
Today, she was drowning out her feelings with the heaviest of Antivan liquor— the “Antivan Sip-sip” as it was called on the menu. The drink had a silly name, typical of the Antivans, but it burned as it went down. It burned her chest, her nostrils, her throat; it burned so bad that it could’ve eliminated every thought spinning around in her mind. Val groaned. As much as it ravaged her it couldn’t eliminate the pain in her heart.   
The seat next to her squeaked and she looked up from her tangle of arms and hair. Her face was red and splotchy, not just from being drunk but because she was crying. She didn’t even notice that her face was wet. The kind face next to her leaned in understandingly. Varric. Val scoffed, rolling her eyes and falling back into her depressed, hunched posture on the counter.   
“Every year for the three years you’ve come here, on the same exact day, with the same drink and the same attitude, and you never tell me what happened.”  
Valeria groaned again. “Go away, Varric.” Her speech was horribly slurred and she could barely get out what she wanted to, but by the Maker she would.   
“You gotta stop drinking like this when you’re upset, Val. Val!” She wasn’t listening. She was drunk and upset, so he wasn’t going to get through to her.  
“If I haven’t told you the past three years, what makes you think I’ll start today?” He could barely understand her words, which he was used to.   
“Well, I guess I thought the chest hair would have impressed you enough by now.”   
Valeria laughed drunkenly, bottle still clutched in her right hand, head still on the counter. She was out of her mind. She looked back up at him, holding her head because of the headache from the alcohol.   
“I’ll tell you, I guess. But-but you h-have to keep it a s-s-ssecret,” Val slurred. Her dwarf friend gestured indicatively, leaning back and waving over the bartender.   
“Sure. Go ahead.”  
Valeria paused for a moment, massaging her temples. She glared at the bartender for taking the half-full bottle (her third for the night) away from her, then looked back at Varric. Instantly, she started spilling, weeping and slurring and tripping over her words, before he stopped her.  
“Easy, Mama. I’m gonna need you to go slower.”  
Valeria froze a bit in contemplation, trying to get her thoughts together, which failed. Shaking, she sighed and calmed down a little.  
“It’s my birthday, Varric. Every year I come here on my birthday, and I get to celebrate by myself with a few bottles of alcohol and go home and cry because all I can think about is the fact that another year has gone by without me getting my shit together.”  
“That’s not what it is.”  
“I’m not done.”  
“I know. You’re just a terrible liar, and I wanted you to know that.”  
Val gave a deep sigh and kept spouting off her drunk rant. “And-and you know, all I really wanted when I left the Red Jenny was to live. W-when I was really little, all I wanted was a Prince Charming or a Hero like every other girl. I’m never going to have that. Ever. I’ll never live normally, I’ll never have a family—“  
“Val, stop talking like that.”  
“But it’s true, though!” Valeria laughed hysterically. “The closest I ever got to any of those goals was meeting all of you. The Inquisition, Hawke, all of that- I never planned to get into that. Never, ever, ever. But I did, and now I’m stuck with it.”  
“Way to really bring down everybody’s mood there, Valeria.”  
Val was down on the counter again, supporting herself with her arms.  
“I’m going home now, Varric. Don’t follow me, and don’t tell anyone about this.”


End file.
